This is a nice article about a former Cougar. I hope this does not turn into a
debate about BYU's Championship. I don't feel the article is intended
for debate but rather that of a man who took full advantage of his college
experience and then applied the lesson learned into life. What a fantastic
memory for a player knowing that the last game his father watched turned out to
be for a National Championship. If we need to debate the 84 title we can just
go back to almost any article written in the past month.

Leon White was one of the greats during the glory days. To those that question
the national championship, just remember the team that beat Oklahoma that year
in the Orange Bowl and made a 'claim' they were the 84 champions came
to Provo in 85. BYU put a 31 to 3 beat down on Washington that day.
Didn't hear much of a peep from the Huskies after that game.

I was a
teenager playing my way through youth football leagues when you played for the
Y. That 1984 team was chock full of players I was a fan of, but there were none
I enjoyed watching play the game more than you. I tried to model my limited
skills after what I saw you do. I also enjoyed following your progress as a pro
in the NFL after you days in Provo were done. Thanks for giving me a lot to
cheer for through those years - your play on the field never disappointed and
all of BYU Nation was privileged to see you in our Cougar Blue.

Most people seem to forget that BYU lost one game...their first one in the 1983
season and were 23 in a ROW when they won the National Championship at the end
of 1984. They had gone nearly TWO complete seasons without a loss. There was no
legitimate argument against BYU as the National Champion. Bryant Gumbel was
whining about BYU as NC when one of the other sports commentators on the show
asked "Who else could it be?" after pointing out that string of wins.
The argument effectively died there. Leon White is justifiably proud of the
accomplishments of his team, and justifiably grateful that his father got to see
it. We should all be so blessed with such a poignant and precious memory.

u-pac:"The DNews is in business to trumpet favorable, unequivocal
LDS/BYU propaganda. Whatever "angle" is their vehicle always promotes
BYU/LDS "glory.""

So if DesNews is a propaganda tool for
BYU, you have to say the same for the SLTrib and the U of U. Well, apparently
it's working for the DesNews, as there is a great deal of interest in BYU
sports in this market (majority being in Salt Lake county), with fans of both
major universities flocking to its forums. For a market which the pac/utes
claim to own, it's interesting that their flagship media outlet (SLTrib) is
fighting for its very existence. Hmmmm. I guess ownership of the local market
is not so clear cut after all....

BYU was not the 5th best team in 1984. Maybe not even the 8th best. Simple
honest fact. I am happy that circumstances worked out in a way that they could
claim the National Championship trophy, but let's face it--I've even
heard many, many die hard Cougar fans admit that this is a joke. I've even
seen better BYU teams than this. This win over lowly Michigan forced the NCAA to
take a hard look at the way that the National Championship is crowned and
probably was the basis for undefeated Ute teams (both of which would have mopped
the floor with the 84 Cougars) to not be able to play for the National
Championship. I'm okay with that, but let's not pretend that this 84
team was something they never were. They were a pretty good BYU team who caught
lightning in a bottle with an easy schedule and an incredibly easy opponent in a
second tier bowl game. That's it.

BYU was THE MOST DESERVING team to be selected 1984 National
Champion as determined by CONSENSUS of ALL FIVE major college football
organizations of the day, including the majority of AP and Coaches poll
voters.

It's laughable that the haters who whine about BYU 1984
being ranked #1 in both polls, use those exact same rankings to validate their
arguments - in other words, the voters were absolutely correct in ranking every
other team in the country EXCEPT for BYU.

btw, BYU beat Air
Force(8-4) at Air Force, which finished #24 in the final AP poll, HIGHER than
Utah's 2004 Fiesta Bowl opponent.

I can understand your point how BYU winning a national
championship in 1984 was a lame duck type national championship. I disagree
though I can understand. You have to remember that the national championship in
pre-BCS era didn't have the number 1 and number 2 ranked teams pitted
against each other except for a handful of times. So if you have to question
BYU's national championship in 1984 than you have to question every
national champion crowned before 1998 (pre-BCS era) except for the few occasions
a number 1 was pitted against a number 2 which hardly happened.

Roy Kramer, head of the Southeastern Conference, created the
first illegal cartel i.e. The Bowl Alliance and then the BCS, in order to
illegally corner the market on the money. They had to back down a bit when the
U.S. Senate held hearings and was about to refer this to the Justice Department
with anti-Trust litigation.

This was a result of BYU being baited and
then switched upon when they finished 5th in both polls in '96 and were
promised either the Orange, Sugar or Fiesta Bowl Game, if they had finished in
the Top 6. Lavell Edwards even made the trip to New York.

So you see,
without BYU's season in '96 and their mistreatment, Utah, TCU, N.
Illinois, Boise St., Hawaii etc. never would have been under the new rules,
whereby they all qualified for the phony caste system called the BCS.